Frugal Column June 2

I can’t get away from the Extreme Couponing show that is on TLC every Wednesday at 9:30pm. When you are watching you will see people that have products stored all over there house they even made special shelving units to hold their stockpile. When you watch the show and see carts of product go out the store is this considered hoarding? I love to get free or cheap products, there does come a point when I just simply got too much stuff. When I open my cabinets and closets, and toothpaste falls on my head or a shampoo bottle hits my foot, it’s probably a good sign that I might be going overboard. When you start your couponing journey you will start to accumulate many items for your pantry and health and beauty products. Remember coupons and sales tend to go in cycles. I always feel that having a least six bottles of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap etc. will enable me not to pay retail for any of these items. That is what I am ultimately trying to do. What if you have a coupon and the item is free but you already have plenty of backup. In my house this can be explained by the comment my son made about attending one of my classes, “When you have The Fru-Gal as a Mom you just have to raid the closet for stuff”. So where does some of my stockpile go to my boys house, or friends and family. One wonderful way to spread goodwill without it costing you much but will be appreciated is to donate to a local non-profit organization. The Ronald McDonald House of the Bluegrass has a wish list on their website of products they would love to have. Your local homeless shelters and rescue missions also would gladly take any health or beauty products. The bonus to this good deed is you can even write off your donations on your taxes. Be creative! Right now you can get a rebate on reams of paper at Office Depot, buy one for yourself and give one to your child’s teacher for the start of the next school year. Making gift baskets full of all your cheap products make a lovely gift. Think of different uses for items for example, I buy baby wipes no, I don’t have a baby but I like to have them in my car to clean my hands. Let’s get back to stockpiling. What items should you have as backups in your pantry? The average person having twenty bottles of salad dressing is way too much and if stored improperly will start to taste bad. A website called StillTasty – Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide at www.stilltasty.com will help you get answers on how long your favorite food or beverage will stay safe and tasty. It also will tell you the proper way to store the item. This week at Krogers you can get a 40 oz. bottle of Heinz Ketchup for $1.99 when you use the 50 cent coupon from 5/22 Sunday paper and it doubles you only pay 99 cents for the bottle. This is a great stockpiling price and product. I know in my house ketchup goes quickly. How do you get all these coupons to furnish your stockpile? The Herald Leader is now offering a subscription for Sunday paper only. For just $4.99 a month you can get the Sunday paper delivered to you. If you are an active subscriber go to www.subscribetohl.com/coupons and get a couple extra papers delivered to you. If you are a new subscriber in a home delivery area go to www.subscrivetohl.com/extreme.You do have to purchase two Sunday subscriptions do this today so you can get this Sunday’s paper delivered to you with over $200 worth of coupons inside. Don’t forget to click on you heard it from The Fru-Gal.

Celebrate National Donut Day with your local Dunkin’ Donuts on Friday, June 3. Get a free donut with the purchase of any beverage. http://news.dunkindonuts.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1405

Krispy Kreme is celebrating National Donut Day on Friday, June 3. They are giving a free donut to everyone who visits.

Every Friday during the month of June, Bounty is giving away 5,000 $5 coupons. http://www.facebook.com/bounty?sk=app_221766741167516

If you are looking to purchase a Laptop for your college bound child get an Xbox 360 free with the purchase of a Windows 7 PC $699 or more http://www.facebook.com/windows?sk=app_208071072548335

STAYCATION IDEAS:

Sign up for Collins Kids Club for children under the age of 15 at Collins Bowling Center. Children are eligible to register for 2 free games a day, all summer long from June 1 to August 15. http://www.collinsbowling.com/kids.html

Blockbuster stores are celebrating their new prices and massive stockpile of new releases with free unlimited rentals at your participating store until July 4. Print out your coupon and bring to your local store to see if they are participating. http://www.blockbuster.com/stores

Through July 29, every Friday, you can get 2 for 1 movie tickets at Fandango when you use your Visa Signature card to purchase. https://www.fandango.com/visasignature

Free Friday Flicks at Jacobson Park, this is a family event. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and pack a picnic dinner or purchase concessions from a vendor on-site. The activities start at 7pm and the movie will be shown at dark. Attend this Friday to watch the movie “Yogi Bear”. Check out their website for what movies will be shown. http://www.lexingtonky.gov/index.aspx?page=241

Join your local Williams and Sonoma store for June’s complimentary technique classes, a three-part culinary tour of four popular barbecue hot spots- the Carolinas, Memphis, Kansas City and Texas. The series will feature recipes for regional favorites. Participants enjoy a 10% savings on same day store purchases. Class size is limited and reservations are required. http://edm.williams-sonoma.com/ws/2011/0525_TD/All_Store_June.html

The Cincinnati Reds and the Newport Aquarium are teaming up for a home run of a deal. On selected dates during the season you can purchase a Mezzanine seat to the Reds game and a Newport Aquarium ticket for only $34 (this is a 25% savings). http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ticketing/group_theme_dates.jsp?loc=aquariumcombo&partnerId=2G3G2071-6IX3

Right now you can purchase a Entertainment book and get one free. These books feature coupons for many area attractions, restaurants and more. www.entertainmentbook.com

When kids wear a baseball uniform to Sonny’s Barbeque they will eat for free when an adult meal is purchased. Bring your ticket stub from any 2011 Lexington Legends game within three days and receive $5 off a feast for four. http://www.sonnysguests.com/#!lexington

Buy specially marked Tony’s Frozen Pizza and receive twenty free photos from Shutterfly. What a great way to remember all of your staycation memories. http://www.tonysmorememories.com/